Electrical devices known as voltage surge protectors or suppressors are well known in the art. Typically, these devices include a pair of terminals that are secured within a housing and connected to the circuitry that accomplishes the desired electrical function.
Although there are many ways of suppressing voltage spikes, a simple circuit consists of a first bidirectional voltage sensitive breakdown element connected between the surge protector terminals and a second such element connected between one of the terminals and ground. A pair of Zener diodes connected back to back forms such a bidirectional breakdown element.
In operation, any transient voltage spike that appears across the terminals (or between the terminals and ground) and exceeds the threshold of the breakdown element causes that element to conduct, thus shunting current away from whatever load is connected to the surge protector.
The surge protector terminals typically include a prong (male) end, a receptacle (female) end and an intermediate connecting portion. The prongs are designed to be plugged into a standard electrical outlet and the receptacles are adapted to receive the prongs of a standard electrical plug. In some devices, each surge protector prong is offset with respect to its respective receptacle to form a surface that is held in place by the internal dimensions of the device housing. Other types of devices use "pass-through" or "in-line" terminals that are generally straight conductors having a prong at one end and a receptacle at the other end.
There are several known ways to secure "in-line" terminals within a housing, for example, by friction fit, or with mechanical fasteners. Known connectors either do not provide the internal stability required by "in-line" terminals or require the use of fasteners that are difficult to handle because of their small size. U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,160 (Bertsch) discloses another method of securing terminals within a housing of a surge protector. This type of arrangement has the general disadvantage of requiring relatively complex molded parts.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an electrical connector device that can be simply and inexpensively assembled and in which the terminals are securely held.